One Pen, One Page & One Future President
She might’ve brushed shoulders with Michelle Obama and Secretary Hillary Clinton, but Amanda Gorman will be making her own presidential waves soon. At 20-years-old, Harvard junior Amanda Gorman is the first ever Youth Poet Laureate of the United States of America. She is Founder and Executive Director of One Pen One Page, which promotes literacy through free creative writing programming for underserved youth. But she’s not just the voice of a generation--in her free time, she’s the face of it too. A model on the side, she's been a face in two national campaigns for Eileen Fisher and Helmut Lang. She is running for president in 2036.
Can you recall any character, memory or thing from childhood that made you so fond of writing?
Hmm I’ve always liked writing ever since I could remember. My mom used to have to pay me quarters every day I stayed in bed instead of waking up super early to write (and waking her up in the process!). But I do particularly remember reading Ray Bradbury and my mind being ignited. I just thought it was pure magic, and I was hooked.
You’ve famously shared your poetry with icons like Malala. Is she just one of many now-friends for whom you’ve done this? What does a typical night-in with your close peers look like?
Haha every night isn’t star-studded! Me and my friends love gathering in one of our dorms with late-night pizza and watching some bad film on Netflix. I’ve been very lucky in that I’ve been able to write poems for people I deeply admire, like Malala, Michelle Obama or Lin-Manuel Miranda, and I take that very seriously because I treat it as an opportunity to give back to these people who have given so much to the world.
We can plan to vote for you in the 2036 , so is there anyone else you know now who you want to complement your cabinet?
Haha everyone! I’m always meeting super interesting people who offer to be part of the cabinet. I thought the earlier I start recruiting, the better my team will be!
In your (master)piece for The New York Times, you described the pressure placed on black students to be the voice for all black history in the classroom. How do you push your peers or professors to move beyond this generalization?
Point of the part of not being the black history voice in the classroom is that we’re often the ones who are doing exactly this, pushing our peers and professors to move beyond generalizations. So what I try to do is build an allyship in the classroom. If a history or people is not being well-represented in the classroom, I bring it up to other students. Chances are maybe they haven’t noticed, and are glad to know, or have noticed and didn’t feel empowered enough to speak up. Then, together, we approach the instructor as a unified front to see how those histories can be better integrated into the classroom.
What are some small and/or large-scale ways in which you’ve found it easy to pay your own education forward?
Teaching! I love to teach. My mom is a teacher, and so I guess I caught the bug from her. Whenever I can lead creative writing workshops is always a huge thrill for me, getting the chance to work with students directly and bring poetry into their lives.
On a larger scale, getting to work with organizations like She’s the First, 826National or the Amplifier Foundation, which all work in the field of education in someway, has given me a really useful platform to reach students on a larger scale.
How are you able to be so passionate and dedicated to poetry, without it becoming a source of stress?
Ha, I’m not sure if I completely can! But whenever poetry seems like a source of dangerous anxiety, I remind myself of why I write in the first place. I remember all those people (particularly women) who have been rendered silent by illiteracy, and how lucky I am that I get to use this pen. I remember that, to me, nothing is funner than a little word play, and I return to that little kid who is excited to put pen to paper.
Where can you be found on a lazy Sunday afternoon, or a stressful midterms stretch?
Lazy Sunday afternoons will find me writing with a cup of tea by my elbow. During stressful midterms stretch, I’ll be in the library wearing a California State beanie over my head.
You’ve credited your mother as your source of creativity. Can she recite any of her favorite lines? How does she continue to inspire you across the country in L.A?
My mom inspires me every day. I mean quite literally she made me. So every time she teaches in a classroom, I’m inspired by her commitment to education. I also ask her for her feedback on anything from what clothes I’m going to wear for a big performance or the historical context I should approach a poem from. So she’s always helping me grow.
Follow Amanda’s covert presidential campaign on her website, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Illustrations by Abigail Hodges